Former state Environmental Protection Secretary Katie McGinty got an endorsement Thursday from a high-profile Democrat and ex-employer, former Vice President Al Gore, as she campaigns in a crowded field of Pennsylvania Democrats seeking the party's gubernatorial nomination.

In a statement posted on her website, Gore endorsed McGinty as someone with the intellect, leadership skills and can-do attitude to improve Pennsylvania.

McGinty, 50, was an environmental adviser to Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. Before that, she spent about a decade working in Washington, D.C., both in Gore's Senate office, which she joined in 1989, and for the Clinton White House, most notably as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

The daughter of a Philadelphia police officer went on to serve five-plus years in former Gov. Ed Rendell's Cabinet. After that, she worked at Weston Solutions, a West Chester-based environmental engineering company, where she was a senior vice president.

The primary is May 20 to determine which Democrat can challenge the re-election bid by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Corbett does not have a serious primary challenge, but he is battling lackluster polling numbers after three years in office.

McGinty, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Wayne, had a smaller campaign account than three of her Democratic Party competitors on Dec. 31, the last deadline for candidates report their campaign finances.